Defensive end docked $7,500 for horse collar violation Brad Biggs
Chicago Bears defensive end Adewale Ogunleye is off to the fastest start of his career with 4 1/2 sacks through the first four games.
One of them is going to cost him, though. The NFL has fined Ogunleye $7,500 for unnecessary roughness, ruling that he violated the horse collar rule when he sacked Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford midway through the fourth quarter of the Bears’ 48-24 victory at Soldier Field. The play is the one that has likely knocked Stafford out for Sunday’s game at Ford Field against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Ogunleye was not called for a penalty on the play, but replays showed he clearly had a grasp of the back of Stafford’s jersey with his right hand. The league office ruled he had a hold of the collar. Stafford reportedly suffered a dislocated right knee cap, although Lions coach Jim Schwartz has refused to discuss the situation, and wouldn’t comment on his quarterbacks today. Veteran Daunte Culpepper is expected to start, although after missing the last two days of practice, Stafford participated in some individual drills today.
That wasn’t the only fine to come out of the game. Bears wide receiver Rashied Davis was fined $5,000 for an illegal crackback block. For Detroit, cornerback Anthony Henry was docked $7,500 for a horse collar tackle and running back Kevin Smith was fined $5,000 for a facemask infraction.
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I agree jon. I am a Lions fan and hated to see Stafford get hurt, but I never thought it was a horse collar tackle. I thought they had to grab a player by the pads (not just the jersey) for it to be a horse collar, which he clearly did not. Did the rule change, or have I just been misinformed about the rule this whole time?
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Oct 09, 2009
09:08 PM
Ogunleye's sack a horsecollar? this fine is BS, Quarterbacks aren't even being treated like football players anymore.
The league should just make it official and have the QB's wear skirts so the defense knows who they can't tackle!